Washing machine provided with resilient agitator



1952 J. A. CASTRICONE ,6 9, 7

WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH RESILIENT AGITATOR Filed Nov. 1, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 f9 INVEN TOR. "Jo/M2 0%. dasi'r'coac Patented Dec. 2, 1952 UNITED- STATES ':PATENTqOFJFlCE WASHING MACHINE PROVIDED WITH RESILIENT AGITATOR John A. Castricone, Reoria...111., assignor to AltorferVBros Company, Peoria, 111., a corpo- V ration of Illinois Application November 1,- 1949, Serial No. 1243739 (01. Gib-433) ,8: Claims.

'. This invention relates to a device for distributing-the. clothes ina washing. machine tub to vprovide anv equal: distribution of clothes around the tub wall for more efiective washing and fur- :therprovidesa balanced load of such clothes in the tub.

. .Thedeviceis an' improvement on my orbital .1 dasherwasher asdisclosed in my Patent 2,416,611,

issued February 25, 1947, which clearlydescribes the orbitahdasher employed in this improvement.

- The particular object of this invention is to provide an extended clothes' contacting vane on the dasher to assist intheequalized re-distribu- =tion of the clothes in the tub for washing and a -balanced division of the clothes in the tub. :A'still further object-is to provide a flexible re -vane on an orbital dasher of the'washing machine -that'will prevent damage to clothes while assisting in a re-location and equal re-distribution oi the clothes in the tub.

' I Other objects and benefits will be disclosed inthe following descriptions and drawings in 1 Fig. 1 is a front elevational cross sectional view of a preferred form of a washing machine employing my improved dasher;

Fig. 2 is'a plan sectional view of the washer -shown in Fig. 1 as it would appear on the sectionlines2-2 of Fig. 1; v --Fig. -3 is an enlarged plan view of the washer tub insection showing flexible vanes attached to'the dasher as they would appear in contact with-the clothes; Fig. 4=-is an enlarged plan view. partly in sec- ---tion, of a-fiexible rubber vane attached to the vane ofthe-dasher;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of the vane in Fig. 4

- as it would appear in flexed position when in -=contact with the clothes.

- Fig. 61s a plan view of another form of vane wherein a metallic vaneis attached to a rubber --attachment member as it would normally ap- Fig. 7 is-anotherwiew of-the vane shown in Fig. 6 as it would-appear in angular flexed-position when in contact with clothes. ----'Now referring to the drawings and at the outset to Figs.- 1- and 2; I show an outside frame It and carrying a base support member II hung by-flexiblesupport members l2, l3 and M from --=-the'-irame 10. On-the base II is mounted a stationary outside-tub l5 andwithinthe tub 1-5 is a rotatable tub lli having extractor holes 46-41., x Y in its top periphery. The two l6 wis-acarried on -a drive mechanism ll whichrotatably-supports thetub i6 and dasher-:19 which may bexrotated by. the motor 18 either with the dasherlflbeing orbitallyxrotatedseparately or-the tub It. and

the dasher I9 being rotated together. Aside from -.:the orbital dasherzmechanism fully=described in my Patent No. 2,416,611, the above mechanism has nobearing onthe -present invention and wi1l':.not be described in detail-except tau-explain that the dasher-driveis revolved atzaboutr 300 R..P. M. and the tub. at about 690 R. :P. M.

It should further be explained: that thezabove .described washing machineis ;what isqknown as an automatic; 'washen: that is, itpautomatioally goes through time 1 cycles of washing; rinsing and dryingthe clothes.

Inthe. first cycle; the wash water is placed in the tub and thedasher ,operated for say a-ten minute .cycle'with the dasher being movedorbitally at about 300R. -P. M. Next, the wash water-is extracted byyrotating the tub at 600 R. P. M. Up to 300 R. ,P. M. the

- dasher continues to be orbitally movedwhile the major portion of the water is extracted. .It will thus be carefully noted that up to300 R. P. M. the. dasher has a continuedopportunity to act on the clothes. Next, the tub is filled with-rinse water and the dasher continues to rotate as a 'power rinse for threerminutes. Then thefirst rinse water is extracted. Then, subsequently, one or two, further rinse operations, are performed with extraction of 1 rinse Water between each operation. Finally the clothes are thoroughly extracted and-the clothes removed; Thus it will be apparent that three or four. extracting .cycles arevperformed and it is highly necessary to place the clothes in balance in the tubso that .the tub may be rotated at'high speed. .Most

' automatic machines shut ofi thepower; circuit ing is incomplete.

' tageous and desirable.

Now referring to Fig.3, I have shown an unbalanced load of clothes Cl aroundthe inner wall of the rotating tub 56 which is enclosed within the stationary tub I5. The two tubs are supported together on the base H by resilient swinging support rods l2, I3 and M. It will be'obvious that an unbalanced load of clothes C'l-wouldcause excessive'swinging of the-entire; machine on the support -=base H-andthisexcessive swinging is or damage to the clothes.

3 used to actuate the shut off switch. In a similar manner shut ofi switches are used on other types of extractor mountings to accomplish the same results.

Now again referring to Fig. 3, the dasher I9 moves in an orbital path around the center C of the tub l5, and this orbital movement of the dasher 19 has the general efiect of distributing the clothes around the inner wall of the tub [6 as indicated by the clothes area Cl. However, when a dasher i9 is used with the vanes as described in my Patent No. 2,416,611, there sometimes occurs heavier sections of clothes like Clh, and adjacent to such heavier sections are lighter sections Cil. The heavier sections of the clothes have a tendency to move slower than the lighter sections. It often also occurs that some sections of the clothes get filled with air, especially pillow cases, pockets, etc., and these balloon-like sections also have a tendency to retard the rotation of that section of the clothes. In order to improve the distribution of clothes in the tub, I have added resilient extension vanes 22 on three of the vanes as clearly indicated in Figs, 1 and 2. These-vanes extend beyond the normal vanes of the dasher and as clearly indicated in Fig. 3, contact the heavier sections of clothes Cih in a manner to cause the resilient vanes 22 to be bent or distorted without jamming I9 I have placed an arrow in Fig. 3 showing the manner in which the dasher i9 moves in an orbital path around the center of the tub C. 'With the vane 22 bent as shown and the movement of the dasher in the orbital path around the center C, the bent vanes 22 have the effect of moving the heavy section of clothes Cih and distributing the heavier loads into the lighter sections This action of the resilient vanes 22 is very effective in distributing the clothes uniformly around the inner wall of the tub It for more uniform washing and to effect a balanced load of clothes within about one minute of the operation of the dasher. I have previously described how the dasher l9 continues to operate as the water is extracted from the tub is. This appears to effectively assist in the distribution of the clothes and I am enabled to get practically perfect balanced loads in a high percentage of cycles.

Now referring to Fig. 4, I show a resilient contact vane 22 preferably made of a relatively stiff but resilient rubber compound which is attached to a vane l9v on the dasher l9 by a rivet or bolt connection 23. When the end of the resilient vane 22 contacts clothes as previously illustrated for Fig. 3, it assumes the bent position shown in Fig. and the combination of the resilience of the vanes 22 with the orbital movement of the dasher [9 effects the equal distribution of clothes as previously described.

Now referring to Fig. 6, I show another form of resilient vane 24 which is made of stiff aluminum or plastic or the like. In this construction the vane 24 is attached to a resilient hinge 25 attached to the vane 19-0 by riveted or bolted connections 23 and 23-a. Such a structure assumes a bent position as shown in Fig. '7 when it con tacts the clothes around the periphery of the tub is and this resilient construction combined with the orbital movement of the dasher also is effective in distributing the clothes as previously described. There undoubtedly are other forms of resilient vane elements that may be utilized to effect the same results. It appears that the re- 'sults are obtained by the resilience in the vane Now on the dasher after it contacts the heavy clothes loads to transmit the orbital movement of the dasher [9 to move the clothes around the periphery of the tub. I have found that many forms of resilient vanes can be used with good results, although the simple form of rubber vane as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 appear to get optimum results.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the forms hereinbefore described being merely preferred embodiments thereof.

I claim: 7

1. In a clothes balancing device for a washing machine having a tub for containing washing and rinsing water with the clothes, an integrally formed dasher, drive means continuously rotatable in one direction and having the dasher rotatably mounted on an upright axis, which axis is movable by said drive means in an orbital path within the tub, and resilient extension vanes on the dasher to flexibly contact the clothes within the tub beyond the orbital path of the dasher to efiect an equalizing distribution of the clothes in the tub.

2. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to contain a body of water for washing clothes therein, a drive shaft extending upwardly in said tub, and a dasher surrounding said shaft and mounted thereon for free and independent movement relative to said tub,'said shaft being connected with the dasher eccentrically of the shaft for moving the dasher bodily in an orbit relative to the axis of the shaft, said dasher having a body with a diametrically enlarged base portion with a diametrically reduced upper portion thereabove and rigid therewith, and resilient fins projecting outwardly from the body and spaced at intervals therearound throughout the major portion of the height of the body for producing an equalized distribution of the clothes around the tub. V

In a washing machine, a. tub adapted to contain a body of water for washing clothes therein, a drive shaft extending upwardly in said tub, and a dasher surrounding said shaft and mounted thereon for free and independent movement relative to said tub, said shaft being connected with the dasher eccentrically of the shaft for moving the dasher bodily in an orbit relative to the axis of the shaft, said dasher having. a diametrically enlarged substantially cylindrical base portion of appreciable height with a diametrically reduced upper portion thereabove and rigid therewith, and vanesspaced at intervals around said upper portion and extending downwardly substantially to the base portion and having inwardly inclined outer edges, and resilient fins mounted on the vanes and projecting outwardly therefrom substantially throughout the height thereof for producing an equalized distribution of the clothes around the tub. j

4. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to receive a body of water for washing clothes therein, an upright drive shaft, a dasher in the tub and connected with the drive shaft for movement continuously in one direction on an upright axis which axis is movable by said drive shaft in an orbital path relativeto the axis of the drive shaft, and a plurality of resilient vanes on the periphery of the dasherlin, position to :fiexi-bly contact the clothes in the tub to effect an equalized distribution of the clothes therein.

5. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to receive a body of water for washing clothes therein, an upright drive shaft, a dasher in the tub and connected with the drive shaft for movement continuously in one direction on an upright axis which axis is movable by said drive shaft in an orbital path relative to the axi of the drive shaft, said dasher having upwardly extending vanes spaced at intervals about the periphery thereof, and resilient vanes mounted on the upwardly extending vanes and projecting outwardly therefrom throughout a substantial portion of the height of the dasher for producing an equalized distribution of the clothes around the tub.

6. In a washing mashine, a tub adapted to receive a body of water for washing clothes therein, an upright drive shaft, a dasher'in the tub and connected with the drive shaft for movement continuously in one direction on an upright axis which axis is movable by said drive shaft in an orbital path relative to the axis of the drive shaft, said dasher having upwardly extending vanes spaced at intervals about the periphery thereof, and resilient vanes mounted on the upwardly extending vanes and projecting outwardly therefrom throughout a substantial portion of the height of the dasher for producing an equalized distribution of the clothes around the tub, each of said resilient vanes being formed of rubber yieldable transversely of the width thereof circumferentially of the dasher.

'7. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to receive a body of Water for washing clothes therein, an upright drive shaft, a dasher in the tub and connected with the drive shaft for movement continuously in one direction on an upright axis which axis is movable by said drive shaft in an orbital path relative to the axis of the drive shaft, and a plurality of resilient vanes on the periphery of the dasher in position to flexibly contact the clothes in the tub to effect an equalized distribution of the clothes therein, each of said resilient vanes comprising a section on the dasher and a flexible section of resilient material extending outwardly therefrom and, forming the outer portion of the vane in position to contact the clothes.

8. In a washing machine, a tub adapted to receive a body of water for washing clothes therein, an upright drive shaft, a dasher in the tub and connected with the drive shaft for movement continuously in one direction on an upright axis which axis is movable by said drive shaft in an orbital path relative to the axis of the drive shaft, and a plurality of resilient vanes on the periphery of the dasher in position to flexibly contact the clothes in the tub to effect an equalized distribution of the clothes therein, each of said vanes comprising a section on the dasher, a stifi section in position to contact the clothes and a resilient hinge section connecting said first-mentioned and stiff sections together.

JOHN A. CASTRICONE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

